Shohei Ohtani’s career best for home runs was immediately exceeded.
In the first inning, Jordan Wicks’ breaking ball to Yuletide’s Ohtani led to a home slam into the right-center field bleachers, and the Dodgers went on to defeat the Cubs 10-8 on Wednesday. But more noteworthy was that Ohtani, the two-time AL MVP, broke the previous mark with 47 home runs in his career. His sixth leadoff home run of the year and his 12th career leadoff home run.
Statcast estimates that the first-inning home run was struck at 118.1 mph by a fastball that traveled 405 feet. With a season-high home run average of 118.7 mph, Ohtani has launched his third-fastest home run of the year.
Ohtani entered Wednesday with 17 games remaining on the schedule, trying to become the first player in Major League history to hit 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. With Wednesday’s blast, Ohtani now needs just three more homers to reach 500.
He also collected his 48th stolen base of the season in the second inning after drawing a walk against Wicks. Ohtani is also trying to become the first player to win the MVP Award as a full-time designated hitter. Ohtani now has 12 games with at least one homer and one stolen base this year, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
He is tied with Ronald Acuna (2023) and Bobby Bonds (1973) for second on the list of most such games. Only Rickey Henderson has more, with 13 in 1986.
“It’s been very important to us for him to reach 600 plate appearances,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Wednesday’s game. “And he’s had a record-breaking season.”
Ohtani’s homer opened the door for one of the Dodgers’ best innings of the season. With two outs in the inning, Tommy Edman hit his third homer in the last two games, a two-run shot that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.
Will Smith, whom the Dodgers are trying to push aggressively before the start of the postseason, hit a homer of his own. Max Muncy closed the inning with three consecutive homers against the Vikes.
It’s the second time in the last two weeks the Dodgers have hit three consecutive home runs in an inning.